


Hades.

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Bottom Louis, D/s undertones, Eventual Smut, Feminine Louis, Greek God Harry, Harry is hades, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Jealous Louis, M/M, Mythology Inaccuracies, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possessive Louis Tomlinson, Sexual Tension, Supernatural Elements, Top Harry, Underworld, bratty louis, but that's ok, he also has two sons, so dont worry ok
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:54:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24072508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “You lied. You told me you had a wife.” Louis licked at the excess amount of chocolates left on his fingers. Harry's eyes followed his movements closely.“And?” Harry's tongue darted out to dampen his drying lips. “what made you think I don't actually have one?”Louis' eyes flit to the ground, a ghost of a shy smile on his face. You are supposed to be mad and brooding, Louis, what are you doing! the rational side of his mind chided. “I know who you are now, mister.”Harry gulped dryly. “Who am I?”Louis stared at him, “A divorced man.” there was a serious expression on his face until he burst out in loud giggles after Harry playfully pressed his fingers to his sides for making a joke about his relationship status.—Louis' life had gradually gone downhill since his sixteenth birthday, he didn't know it could get any worse until he finds himself thrown between one realm, to another one he's significantly unfamiliar with — in the long run, he also finds himself strangely infatuated to the ruler of the realm, Hades.or,In an alternative universe where Louis is a not-so-human boy who somehow gets to the Underworld and Harry happens to be the King of it.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 28
Kudos: 81





	Hades.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, here I am with another fic, haha. I know my writing is shite for now so I'm calling this fic my Trying To Improve piece — anyway, this fic is heavily inspired by a series I read and loved before so the way I'll be describing the Underworld and Hades will be completely different from the usual stereotypes you see often. So, have fun with that, I guess? 
> 
> Also I wrote this fic by myself, edited this by myself, so if you see heaps of grammatical errors (sorry, ok, English isn't my first language) and typographical ones, the one responsible for that is me, myself, and I. Thank you.

_**2010,**_ _ **OCTOBER**_.

“Mom? I'm going out for a bit.”

Louis wasn't sure why his life had gone downhill.

Although he considerably, transparently remembers how it had all started the moment he turned sixteen and all the various events which lead up to that day. It had been a normal birthday, much like all the other ones he had before. The only difference was the complete 360 that happened to his life right after — the entirety of his life shifted for the worst.

His only friend, Hadley, had joked about it saying it simply maturity catching up to him and he was finally growing up, to which he laughed at and agreed to, because, perhaps she was right, after all. Though, he was aware in the deep recesses of his mind, that it was so much more than it appeared and he was lost, unaware of what it could be.

A dry silence, then a flipping of a page. “Have fun.” his mom finally replied shortly.

He lingered at the front door, waiting to see if she had something else to add and was only met with a cold, brooding silence as she continued to flip through the book she was reading. He looked down to his feet, his lips pressed in a thin line before his hand tightened around the leash. “Let's go, Cliff.” he willed the pup dog to follow him by tugging on it gently.

Once they were finally out of the house, he turned around and shut the door behind him. _That was it? Not even asking me where I'm gonna go? Not even a simple ‘take care’?_ he knew he couldn't be complaining since most of the time he was given just pure, empty silence, at least she'd addressed him this time. Still, he couldn't help the bitter taste it left in his mouth. How had his life even come to this point, and why?

On the day after Christmas Eve — or his birthday, essentially — his father had announced about how he had gotten a promotion from his job and how it would require him to be away for most of the time. They had been so happy to hear that, they'd celebrated it completely unawares of the forthcoming change that would happen in their lives right after. Everytime his father went away for one his business trips he had always gotten back home, seeming colder and much more distant, of course, there were instances where he'd be the same man who took care of Louis until he grew up but for the most part, he was different, especially when it came to his mother. His family was falling apart, but due to childish naïvety, he had shrugged it off not quite knowing what was wrong.

At least, not until that one night when he was startled awake due to loud noises, a mix between a screaming match and objects being thrown about. He'd been so scared and confused that his palms went clammy and he started tearing up, curling into a fetal position, an attempt to protect himself from trouble. He vividly remembers heaving a loud sob and a low cry when the door to the room slammed open and revealed his fuming dad who halted when he saw the child wide awake and terrified out of his mind. His father's softened for a fraction of seconds at the sight before solidifying right back again when his mother bursted into the room after him.

_“What are you doing? Don't even think of bringing my child into this!”_ _his mother had screamed her lungs off. “do you plan on taking him away from me!”_

_“You, of all people, have the audacity to say that!” he screamed right back at her. “to think it was all your fault, in the first place! If you weren't such a reckless witch then this wouldn't have to happen!”_

_“Oh, so you're blaming everything to me when you're the one who cheated! And I did that for you, I did everything for you!” she spat. “turns out I shouldn't have done it.”_

Louis' hearing rang so he clasped his palms over his ears, a futile way to prevent himself from hearing anymore, praying and begging to whoever was out there to make them stop. It felt like being stabbed from front to back once the words left his mother's mouth, his father had been unfaithful to her? He couldn't bring himself to believe it. What his father had said still confused him to this day, what had he meant by it being his mother's fault for being reckless? He wondered how many things his parents had hidden from him to this day that they still haven't told him about. He was torn on what to believe.

His father left on that night all by himself when he figured Louis wouldn't so much as look at him in the eyes. Their screaming match had died down but Louis was still shaking like a leaf, wrapped in his comforter. Very clearly, he remembered his mother had scooped him into her arms, wiping the tears he didn't know were still there with her cold but gentle hand, soothing him almost instantly and lulling him to sleep with her voice.

If only things had stayed that way.

With a wistful sigh, he recalled the time when he'd seen his mother from his bedroom window, her lips attached undoubtedly attached with another man's, unashamedly making out in their front porch. She claimed he was an old friend when he asked her about it, and of course, Louis wasn't dense but he'd decided to simply let it go and let his mother be, wanting her to be happy despite how much it made his stomach sink and had him missing his father even more.

Two years later, she had blamed Louis for their breaking up, he didn't understand her reasoning for that but he was thankful. Louis had always found Adam weird — he was strangely attached to him and wanted touch him in any ways he could. When Louis told her mother about it, she had screamed at him. Louis didn't like him at all but his mother did, apparently.

 _“So... Adam_ _wasn't just a friend, after all?”_ Louis had inquisited her, it was a genuine question, but he guessed it came out more snarky and bitter when a loud smack echoed in the room after her palm landed on his cheek, followed my a loud and hollow silence. After that incident, she barely talked to him. Though prior to that, he had already felt her drifting away from him, gone was the loving woman who raised him with her gentle hands.

He startled out of his mind when he felt the leash slip from his grasp and Clifford started barking loudly, running to the direction of the woods.

Louis gasped and went after the pup, calling his name and whistling at him to no avail. Louis absolutely hated the woods but he wasn't just going to abandon Clifford and let him run away. He come to a halt once he spotted Cliff sitting in front of a tree with his head tilted to the side and his tongue out, quickly Louis picked the leash up and made sure to hold onto it tightly, wrapping it around his hand so he wouldn't let it slip again. He jumped back when Cliff suddenly turned around sniffing and growling at something around the corner, Louis' insides almost jumped out of his throat when he turned and caught sight of a tall cloaked person— an actual medieval cloak — standing a good, couple of feet away from him. Instinctively, his right foot took a step back, his flight instinct triggered instantly when something sharp and shiny on the person's hand glinted under the light low lights of the forest. 

The person took a step forward and before Louis could even turn around and take flight, Cliff had already beaten him to it by taking off to another direction, only going deeper into the woods.

“Cliff, no!” he took off and wailed out in frustration watching helplessly as he let his pet run off with him getting dragged and pulled blindly just behind. He looked back briefly when he heard another pair of footsteps and his stomach sank when he saw the same cloaked person jogging after him in heavy, freakishly large strides that willed Louis to run faster.

_Please let this be a sick joke._

Once he finally made it out of the woods to a clearing that opened to a long river, he heaved a sigh of relief that was instantly taken away from him when the leash loosed around his hand, blood rushing back to it and has, once again, slipped from his grasp, allowing to Clifford jump into the water and paddle his way across and into the other side.

“No, Cliff! Come back!” he screamed and then slumped down the the side of the river. “Here boy! Come here! Please!” he tried to beckon Cliff over, face lighting up when the dog sat up and started barking back at him, Louis soon realized that it was due to alarm. Reluctantly, he stood back up, stomach dropping and blood running cold when he feels a shadow creep up from behind him. Filled with dread, he looked back slowly and up at the ridiculously tall person looking down at him, face remaining covered and unknown.

Clifford's barking never ceased, so he took a quick glance back to his pet and he paled once found the river's flow becoming much more aggressive, a whirpool forming just adjacent to where Louis was stood still. He spun back around with the intention of running off as fast and far as he could, hoping Cliff would follow him right after — but before he could even move, a strong hand pushed at his chest, the harsh impact throwing him and his tiny, light physique back and into the whirling body of water. Panic rose up to his chest.

Louis never really learned how to swim.

Just before he fell into the water, his eyes caught sight of Cliff jumping in and paddling his way over to Louis, causing the boy to shake his head frantically. The water got harsher and harsher by every second passing making it harder for Clifford to get to Louis closer and he could hear his poor pup's whimpering. Louis reached a hand out before he was submerged underneath the water without a warning. He struggled, tossing his limbs around in a futile attempt to swim up and break into the surface. It proved to be pointless as it seemed as though there was an unknown force that only kept dragging him under. He had lost all hope when he failed to hold his breath any longer, breathing in large amounts of water into his lungs until it hurt and his vision started to flicker and then fade to black.

This wasn't the way he wanted to die.

— • —

“See that over there, Theos?” his brother pointed at the body floating right above the illuminated pool.

“Oh, shit,” Theos squeaked and shuddered. “I hope souls are aware that our pool isn't, like, the new addition to river Styx and Acheron. Otherwise we'd be finding souls here everyday. Gods, imagine that, Claude, casually going to the take a nice skinny-dip just to find a soul floating right beside —”

“Theos, stop talking for a second and call father.” Claudios trudged around the massive pool to get to where the body was closer and more reachable, Theos followed, poking at his phone and then flinching when his brother pulled the body closer to the edge.

“Ew, ew, ew. What are you doing?” he stomped his feet, hissing as if it was the second most unpleasant thing he'd seen after Tartarus.

“Gods above, Theodore, stop being such a wuss! I'm the one doing all the work here while I asked you something as simple as calling dad.” Claudios snapped at his jittery brother, exhasperated.

Theos grumbled, _‘that's not my name, dickhead’_ under his breathe before eventually calling his dad's personal phone. It rang for a while, then stopped. Theos mumbled a confused profanity once he realized his call was declined. He tried again and waited, this time it was answered after the fourth ring.

“ _What?_ ” answered by a gruff and breathless voice on the other line, having Theos' brows shooting up in surprise before his face scrunched up in repugnance. 

“Yuck, dad, I did _not_ need to know you've been frick-fracking someone!” he mocked a dramatic gagging noise in his throat making Claudios shoot sharp glares at the back of his head. “I also do _not_ want another icky sibling, thank you very much.”

“You're the one who called me, you little shit,” his dad's aversion to the accusation was the indicator that he was indeed guilty and that had Theos' face scrunching up even more. “now what do you want?”

“Err,” he heard someone coughing behind him and he shuddered, assuming it was his brother doing that out of disgust. “there's somebody floating in our pool and it might be dead. We think it's a soul but it could also be a thief who drowned and —”

“Theos, no, wait.”

“— Claude, stop trying to be the star for a moment and let me talk —”

“No, dumbass. Look.” his brother pulled at the ends of his coat hard enough to have him slumping down the ground and facing the shaking and unmistakably human boy with his hands on his neck, looking as if he was in a deep struggle to breathe. 

“He's very much alive, and very much human.”

—

_“You've grown, little one.”_

Louis didn't think he'd ever live to encounter this dream once again.

It wasn't his birthday, yet he was here.

He was no stranger to this scenery — looking from outside the balcony laying under the gentle sun was a vast and beautiful field of lavenders that set a beaming smile on Louis' face, the cool breeze fluttering along with his messy hair much like the dancing flowers on the field. He took in a deep, elated breathe, all too happy to be back in this place once again before turning to where he found the owner of the voice that he very indistinctly remembered annually calling out to him ever since his sixteenth birthday.

He carried himself up on clumsy legs before latching himself unto the man sitting on the antique, golden swing with a newspaper clutched in his hands. The man chuckled in bemusement. _“What's with the especially warm greeting, hm?”_

Louis looked up at him and suddenly he the man felt like every other normal dream he's had. Faceless, hazy, but very familiar as if he was someone he knew of outside of dreamland. Everything in these dreams had always felt crisp and clear to him, almost like real life, right up to the man's ever consistent pinstripe suit and his matching fedora — save for his face, it had never been his face. He had always felt like that to Louis and he could never decipher why he felt so warm and familiar when Louis didn't know a lot of people, let alone somebody like Mister Fedora right here — and if he had to admit it, there was nobody else like him.

The boy snuggled up to him, “I missed you.” breathing in the scent of pine, the forest in a rainy day and various other unfamiliar scents that he had trouble naming. Louis thought that was odd, he had never really smelled like anything before.

 _“I've missed you too, little dove.”_ the man placed a warm hand on the small of Louis' back causing the said boy to release a small, contented sigh and pressed his face on the man's shoulder.

“Please take me away.”

He felt like a child all over again.

_“Hmm?”_

“I don't like it at home anymore. Let me stay here instead.”

The man made comforting circles on his back. _“Maybe one day, baby. One day.”_

His voice was getting hazier and more muffled by the second that it made Louis look up at him in confusion. Was it really ending so soon? The scene around them flickered and all of a sudden, there was a weight that pulled him down forcefully causing him to fall back — and right before his head could land on the floor, his vision blacked out.

—

He woke up with a jolt, then there was a delay of him just staring at nothing before he sat up abruptly, desperately gasping air into his lungs.

“Woah, woah!” a pair of hands forced his shoulders back to the bed, he wanted to struggle but he could barely find the strength to do so. His body felt like jell-O all over. “jeez, don't just stand up so suddenly. You scared the heck out of me.” then a relieved sigh.

A young looking man, most likely just a little bit older than him, came into his view with worried brows. “Do you feel dizzy? Sick? Anything?” he had a head full of wavy ginger locks and a pair of droopy, gentle looking green eyes.

Louis shook his head in bewilderment. _Where am I?_ He pointed at the man and opened his mouth in an attempt to ask him a question but all that came out was a dry, choked up groan. It sounded awful. The man winced and handed him a tall glass of water which he gulped down without a second thought.

He gasped. “Where am I? Who are you?” it was an effort, but he managed to at least croak the words out. Although the possibility of the the man being a nurse or a doctor was high, this place certainly didn't look like any hospital he'd seen before. Well, if there were indeed hospital rooms out there that looked like palace chambers then somebody could come smack him on the bum and call him mistaken.

“Hello there, the name's Theos, nice to meet you — despite the circumstances it happened under,” a deep dimple showed up on his left cheek once he gave Louis a grin, his eyes shifting tentatively to the left as he scratched the back of his head. “as to _where_ you are... uh, let's just say you're in our home.”

Louis curled up to himself, drawing his knees to his chest in a protective manner, eyes growing wary. “Why? What happened?”

Theos shook his head, shifting conciously in his seat. “No need to worry, you're safe here. Definitely safer than you were out there passed out in our pool,” he flinched when Louis released a high distressed whine. “sorry. I don't really know what happened to you, either. Do you have any clue?”

“There was —” Louis sucked in a sharp breath and squeezing his eyes shut. “I was pushed down a whirlpool — I'm sure it was in a river — and I didn't know how to swim, never learned to and the water was strong so I drowned — and then I died...” he gasped once again, his chest starting to ache horribly. “I died,” he turned to stare at Theos beside him and the ginger thought he looked as if his mind was elsewhere, his eyes far away. “I died." he muttered, clutching tufts of his hair in between his fingers and pulling on them slightly.

Theos cleared his throat, standing up to pry the boy's fingers from being tightly attached to his hair. “You're alive. I can vouch for that.”

But it was as though Louis' mind had already closed off when beads of tears started to fall down his reddened cheeks. “I have to go home, please,” he cries out. “My momma, s-she's going to be mad — she's gonna scream at me for not getting home in time — a-and my dog!” Louis wailed, his vision blurring from tears and feeling pathetic for crying in front of a complete stranger.

Theos' brows creased in disbelief. This boy had gone missing from the world, not knowing where he was and he's worried about his mother screaming at him for not getting home early and his _dog?_ Humans were strange creatures. He panicked when the boy's breathing went more shallow and frantic, eyes wild before they slammed close. Theos took his face in his hands and made sure the boy was looking directly in his eyes, muttering comforting words to him under his breathe. “You're alright, you're safe and you're going to be fine.” he chanted a simple compliance spell along with a soothing one he had known for ages. It appeared to be effective when the boy's eyes drooped and his breathing began to even out.

“I don't even know your name,” Theos muttered. “what's your name, babe?” the boy hummed and then released a relaxed sigh.

“Louis. My name is Louis.” he replied before his stomach grumbled out ans his cheeks flushed a bright pink when Theos guffawed at him and pinched at the apples of his cheeks.

— • —

Louis ate like he hasn't done so in ages.

Once a tray of one whole freshly roasted chicken was placed in front of him, there was an evident glimmer of excitement in his eyes before wolfing it down without an ounce of hesitation. He merely gave Theos an unaffected raise of his brow when the red-head regarded him with a bemused smile on his face — and then turned back to his food. Louis cared about his food more than anything, obviously. He wasn't always a messy eater, but perhaps he could cut himself some slack just for today.

Theos was aware of how the servants couldn't keep their eyes to themselves when the prince had arrived with the _definitely_ human boy in tow, most likely wondering where the boy had come from and how he had managed to get in this place. He had heard some whispers suspecting that the prince had purposely brought him in whilst the majority of them knew the extent of Theos' abilities and how didn't have the power to do so.

“You weren't supposed to let him out.” Claudios had told Theos after he'd seen the both of them in the kitchen.

Louis regarded him with the same eyebrow-raise and then went back to licking his spoonful of icecream. Unlike his brother, Claudios had a lengthy mane of straight, dark hair neatly tied to his back with an elastic band, letting a few strands fall to an angular, effeminate face which was a stark contrast to his red-headed brother's much more rounded and boyish features — though they did share the same kind of forest-in-the-summer green colored eyes. Louis thought they were inhumanely beautiful and he wondered for a second if he, by some means, ended up in the house of billionaire supermodels who were the much more low-key version of the _Kardashians_.

They weren't his type, though.

“Oh, unclench your cheeks, Claudi-anus,” he retorted, snorting like he was proud of the horrible, _horrible_ pun he'd thought of. “He's not a prisoner, he's our guest. Isn't that right, Lou?” he cooed at Louis and pinched his cheek as though he were talking to a seven year old. If Louis had been in the right state of mind he would have smacked the prince's hand away but since he was still under the clutches of the spell, he simply grinned sweetly at Theos and offered him a spoon of ice cream which the red-head had politely declined.

Claudios' face scrunched up in distaste. “You're a _Prince_ , for Christ's sake. At least learn to reign that crude mouth of yours in and learn some manners. Otherwise, people will never take you and your words seriously.”

“Why does it matter? _They_ never took us seriously, anyway. Never will,” Theos had meant it as a joke at first but something in him had clicked at the admonishment, his expression becoming considerably darker and his tone edging into a bitter one just by the thought of it. “damned people. Just because we're his bastard demi-god children.”

Well, that took a dark turn. Louis awkwardly licked at the spoon, eyes flitting back and forth between the brothers.

The older one of them stood up and slammed his hands on the marble counter, startling Louis. “They never took father seriously, either and he's one of their siblings,” he scoffed then before he completely walked away, he added, “especially when they found out he'd taken us in, his _demi-god_ children. I just think we shouldn't make fools of ourselves more than _they_ already think we are.”

Theos sighed, letting the tension leave his shoulders and the disturbed furrow of his brows ease up. They were left with a ringing silence before Louis decided to break it with one question, along — with many others — he had been meaning to ask since he'd listened unintendedly into their conversation.

“...you're a prince?”

The _prince_ gave him a dimpled smile. “Claudios and I, yeah, we are. Don't mind that prick though, he's just trying so hard to be like dad but he's nice when he eases up.”

“Your... dad?”

“Yep. Essentially, he's the King of this land, I guess,” he shrugged his shoulders placidly. “barely ever gets out of his office though. Only got out briefly when we called him and said we found you in the pool, gave us an order and dipped. Extremely workaholic — and he's definitely screwing his sexy secretary in there, thank fuck I finally broke the habit of bursting into his office suddenly.” he thought to himself, shuddering in repulsion as if he had just relived a terrible memory he'd experienced. 

Louis' head spun. Had he been talking to royalty this whole time? Would that mean the _King_ had seen him out like a light in his pool and he's had two sons — _princes_ carry his soaking wet being inside the palace walls and walked down the most likely expensive, ancient carpet with his painfully undeserving, filthy, sopping, peasant self? All of a sudden he felt hyperaware of everything, especially at the _prince_ staring and watching him gobble up his desert. Gently, he set the bowl of ice cream and his spoon down the table, careful not to make any loud noises.

“So... Are you, like, Prince Harry or something?” he didn't know why he'd said that. It was an awkward question that he asked to cover up the awkward atmosphere. Unsuccessfully so.

Theos, to his utter surprise, burst out with a bellyful laugh. Louis released a bemused giggle back. Was the question really that funny?

“Nope, I may be ginger but I'm not Prince Harry, unfortunately — I'm way cuter, though, aren't I?” he answered once he'd sobered up from his laughing fit. Louis didn't answer his question. “there _is_ somebody named Harry around here, though. He's dangerous and somebody you should look out for.” he said, placing a finger over his lips with a smile that Louis could tell held many secrets behind them.

Then, the realization hit Louis that he didn't really know where he was, who these people were or what happened to him after that cloaked person pushed him into the river. He remembered drowning and he was certain he was dead. But, how he ended up in a royal mansion's pool, currently talking to a prince still remained a baffling mystery to him.

“So... If you're not Prince Harry then... What country are we in?”

Theos, yet again, laughed — snickered at him. “Goddess above, you're so clueless.” Louis lips upturned, his heart dropping and he twiddled with his thumbs uncomfortably.

“I'm not kidding, _please_ , tell me. I just want to go home.”

The Prince's grin faltered when he saw the troubled expression on Louis' face indicating he was dead serious about wanting to go back home. That would mean the spells already wore off, that was faster than usual.

 _I_ _mean, why wouldn't he?_ Theos thought, _it makes sense, he was practically snatched away from his life after all._ He sighed, rubbing his nape hesitantly and if he was standing up, he would've been pacing back and forth endlessly. 

“I really have no idea o how to break it to you, but...” he trailed. How was he supposed to tell the boy he wasn't on Earth anymore? And that it was going to take an agonizing long time before he could go back? He couldn't risk Louis spiralling into another panic attack — heavy doses of spells were bad for supernatural creatures, what more if it was casted on a human boy? It would be lethal.

“But what? I don't care, just tell me!”

Theos finally decided that, screw it, and just tell Louis — hoping the boy wouldn't have an even worse reaction.

“This is the Underworld, Louis, and you're currently living in it.”

— • —

“Death, what the fuck, really?”

Those the first words the god had spat once Death finally picked up the call, not even letting him speak first. He hasn't been having best day and it only got worse when his sons called to inform him about a stranger floating in their pool. Imagine his fury when he'd found out it was _that_ boy. He'd been seething and agitated the whole time he tried to reach Death, ready to bust a vein and give the deity a piece of his mind.

“The fuck did I do?” the god never called him by his appointed name in their centuries of partnership and if he did then that could only mean one thing: he was mad. He rolled his eyes and fought back the urge to groan.

“What do you mean _‘the fuck did I do’_ ? Care to explain what that human boy is doing in my realm, hm?” his fists clenched around his phone and loosened his grip when he heard a slight crack. “Only you can have an idea of what's going on.”

“Wait, what?” Death shot up from his seat in alarm. “by _human boy_ , you mean...?” he shuffled through the heaps of paperwork scattered around his desk looking for his schedule from yesterday to make sure he didn't have an appointment he accidentally forgot. Immortality gave him a faulty memory.

From the other line, could hear the way the god gritted his teeth. “Louis... Tomlinson...” then a sigh. “I don't know why he's here, Dame. That's why I called you because _you_ of all people should know.”

“I don't — I have no idea, H —” his stomach sank when he saw he had very little appointment from yesterday and none of them were about the human boy. He flinched when he heard a crash from the god's side. “Calm down, Hades, for fuck's sake you're freaking me out! I'm also confused about this, alright!”

Louis arriving before the chosen time had only meant that there was something horribly wrong.

It went quiet, then a heavy sigh. “I'm sorry... it's just— he's not supposed to be here, Damian. Not yet, it's too soon.”

“Are you certain he's Louis?” Damian queried, hoping deep inside that the god was simply mistaken.

“There's no mistaking it, Dame. He has _it_.” his tone had edged to a more vulnerable and helpless one and Damian couldn't help but feel terrible for the god and beat himself over it. This was supposed to be his job, something he was entrusted to all those years ago and he couldn't do it right.

“Fuck,” absent-mindedly, he muttered after realizing what _it_ was. “okay, I'll make sure to get to the bottom of this, Harry. I'll ask one of my men if they knew something and if they could look into it.” Damian figured he'd try to fix this as soon as possible to make it up to Harry.

“In the meantime I'll try to avoid him,” Harry concluded and Zayn wanted to tell him that wasn't a good idea because of certain reasons, but bit his tongue back, he knew Harry was aware of the repercussions that would happen but would still choose ignore them. He was difficult. “Sorry for snapping at you. I haven't exactly been having the perfect week.”

“Don't worry about it, mate. Take a break from work, have someone else to do it or something, don't burn yourself out.” there was a beeping sound that meant he had already hung up. Harry groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose and leaned back against his chair.

Claudios needed to learn a thing or more about concealing his presence or he was going to get in serious trouble for that.

“Eavesdropping wasn't the kind of behavior I expected from you, Claudios.”

The demi-god stiffened from where he was standing before easing the tension from his shoulders and carefully stepped out of the shadows.

“You know about him.” the timbre in his voice wasn't questioning or accusing, it was a simple statement.

“That human boy isn't supposed to be here, that's all I can tell you.” he turned from him and lit up a cigarette so that his evasion wasn't as evident.

“Yeah, well, no shit, he's human and alive. But I do recall you saying _yet_ ,” Claudios hummed clutching the bundle of papers closer to his chest. “You've been expecting him, haven't you? And now you're troubled because he arrived a little bit too early. Who is he, father?”

Ah, curse him for having such an intelligently curious child. 

Between his two children, Claudios had always been the more serious one. Always been fervent about earning the people's trust and respect even as a young child. There was a time where Harry thought he felt pressured to act the way he does due to being pressed into the royal life at a very young age. But he simply gave Harry a very familiar dimpled grin when he asked and said he wanted to be like his father when he grew up.

He could've cried.

“Claudios,” the demi-god perked up at his name being called, looking like the curious and eager child he was the first time he was brought to him, once again. “You are so much like your mother. Please, do me a favor and leave the papers on the table and keep everything you heard to yourself.”

A knock sounded from the door after the words left his mouth and his child's expression fell back into a neutral one, lips curled into a thin line before he nodded.

“Of course, father.”

His secretary was waiting at the door right after Claudios had opened it, offering him a slight bow before going into the room bringing another stack of papers. Harry stood up from his seat and went to the opened windows, gazing at the bright moonlight and blowing the cigarette smoke that went against the direction of the night breeze, polluting the air in his office.

He heard a small cough from his secretary behind him, before she cleared her throat. “Sir, the council wants you to review these papers as soon as possible and give your opinion whether or not you grant them permission.”

Harry was barely putting his ears into it once a slight movement from below caught his eyes. Somebody was in the garden twirling around, initially he had thought it was one of the servants but when the figure finally stopped moving and sat down he realized it was the boy from earlier — _Louis._ His heart skipped a stubborn beat.

“Place it there. I'll take care of that later.” he ordered stiffly, putting off the cigarette before tossing it into the bin without taking his eye off the tiny figure swinging his feet from below.

“Is there anything else I can help you with, sir?”

“No, you can go.”

“Yes, my King.”

The god could tell there was a tinge of disappointment in her tone, and he was well aware why. He wanted to feel bad, really, but he just couldn't bring himself to do so. He didn't have the time and his undivided attention was already given to somebody else entirely in spite of himself knowing he shouldn't.

He waited until he heard the door shut close before letting himself disappear into thin air and then materializing again behind the tall pillars of the palace near where the boy was situated in the garden fountain, his feet submerged into the water while he held the ends of his nightwear in his hands to keep the fabric from getting damp. Harry didn't bother concealing his presence believing the human boy couldn't have sense him if he was quiet enough, but of course, he completely underestimated his capabilities despite it being unknown to the boy himself.

Louis jumped out of the fountain in haste — it was sudden that it also gave Harry a fright when the boy looked around like a small jittery animal.

“Uhm,” the boy stuttered and twiddled with his clothes. “I didn't mean to, like, swim in your fountain or anything...” his tone trailed. “I totally did, I'm sorry. The water looked so pretty.” there was a slight tint of pink in his cheeks as he apologized as though he knew he wasn't alone and he had just gotten caught.

It was an incredibly endearing sight to behold — so, nobody could blame Harry for being so careless when he let a small chuckle escape him.

He had only realized his mistake when he found Louis standing still and wide-eyed with his mouth agape. Once he took a step forward in a sprint, Harry was already hidden in another pillar and made sure his presence was already properly veiled. He watched as the boy's excited expression drop and morph into a confused one once he reached Harry's earlier hiding spot, scratching his head.

“That's weird, I swear I heard something from here,” he muttered to himself then his eyes widened once again as he had a sudden realization, and then bit on his nails. “Oh no, what if that was a ghost?” he whispered and stood scarily still before taking off immediately through the long hallways to the direction of the kitchen doors, bursting through the dark and quiet room then out. Harry followed him closely when he quickly trotted up the large staircase and to his room. It wasn't until the boy shut the door and buried himself under the covers that he realized he was being a total creep and was invading somebody's privacy.

In a blink of an eye, he was out of that room and was back in his own room, slumping down the sheets face first and groaning to himself. _Big, bad, Hades is seriously having a schoolboy crush right now? Underworld's economy is going to collapse_. He rolled his eyes at his own thoughts.

— • —

“Who's that?”

Louis pointed to a portrait of a beautiful woman on the left that had caught his attention since the first time he passed this hall. It was massive and colorful a stark contrast to the darker, more mysterious ones he came across with.

She was of divine beauty, especially the way her wavy blonde tresses framed her delicate features and draped over her shoulders and her eyes — they were the ones that stood out the most and lured Louis in. Despite the gentle, and almost delicate feel the painting gave him, her eyes stated otherwise — they were blue, similar to his own but unlike his, they held a haunting look in them, stormy and greyish. She was not a force to be reckoned with in spite of the crown pink roses on her head, Louis could tell. Whoever the artist was, they captured this so well that it left Louis gaping.

“That's Persephone.” _assuming you've heard of her_ , was left unsaid by Theos. Louis nodded in understanding, need not to hear more. This was how the goddess looked like. Hades' wife, the Queen.

“Oh,” Louis muttered. “Where is she now?”

“Earth,” the demi-god waved his hand nonchalantly. “ran off with some minor god right after her and dad finally got divorced.” he elaborated when he saw Louis' questioning eyes.

“I see...” _ex-wife_ _then_ , he nodded, trying hard to cram all the information he was being given into his brain making it hard for everything to process. Up until now, he was still lagging behind and his brain was unable to apprehend his current situation faster. He was in a state of mind that he called brain adrenaline rush. Deep inside he was still hoping for a camera to burst out of nowhere with everyone laughing at him, telling him he's been pranked and then he'd laugh along afterwards.

_The Underworld, huh?_

“Hades...” Louis muttered absentmindedly.

“What about him?”

“What does he look like?”

Theos grinned at him, a playful twinkle in his eyes. “Let's play a game,” he popped the last piece of _ferrero_ _rocher_ in his mouth making Louis pout and stare longingly at the empty container in his hand. “there's a couple of portraits of him in this wing and you'd have to take a guess which one of them is his, and then describe him to me once you're done. If you're correct then I'll take you for a tour out in the city and treat you to the best restaurant in town.” 

Louis beamed at the thought of finally getting to see what this realm looked like. “But what if I failed?”

“Now, that's for you to find out, isn't it? Anyway, it should be easy, dear father sticks out like a sore thumb so you don't have to worry about failing.” he checked his wristwatch. “well, that concludes our advanced mythology class for today. I have other engagements to attend to. So then, I'll be entrusting you to Claudios for now.” after giving Louis a tiny salute, he disappeared into thin air leaving wisps of dark smoke in his wake. He would have to get used to that.

He tried looking for Claudios everywhere but the elder brother was nowhere to be seen. Louis figured he might be out without Theos being aware of it or he was scooped up and busy in a room somewhere, he seemed like the type. Either way, Louis didn't want to interrupt him but he was going to go insane if he didn't get to speak with somebody else soon. He remembered the revelation he got from Theos yesterday, about how this was the Underworld and he'd somehow ended up here.

_“Am I actually dead, then?”_

_“Nope, that's why it's weird that you're here. Souls end up in one of the rivers — or Tartarus — after they get judged by the council. It's either they suffer eternal damnation, get the chance to live again here in the Underworld or get reborn on Earth, get transferred to another realm or they just... cease to exist.”_

And that was a scary thought so Louis willed himself to not think about it anymore. Instead he ran to the kitchen, as usual, and sneakily raided the large fridge very quickly and beaming to himself once he'd managed to successfully snatch away another whole container of chocolates, a gallon of ice cream and a slice of leftover lasagna he'd heated up. If anyone complained, he'd just tell them it was Theos.

He'd contemplated bringing them to his room, until his gaze caught on the garden outside, bright and sunny. He found himself sitting on the grass and watching the clouds form into shapes as he stuffed spoonfuls of ice cream in his mouth. He was undoubtedly getting grass stains in the nightgown he'd been wearing since yesterday but he wanted to change clothes anyway, so it didn't matter.

Not even an hour later, his stomach had already felt bloated and full and he wanted to cry. He'd eaten so much of the lasagna and the chocolate triggered his toothache.

On wobbly knees, he stood up with a hand on his cheek where the swelling gum ached the worst, the piled junkfood perched on his hip as he trudged to where the kitchen was with a slight delay in his step, careful not to drop anything he was holding. In the kitchen, he caught a glimpse of someone who had his back to the door, rummaging through the fridge.

Louis had no idea of who the person was considering he hasn't met everyone in this palace yet, he guessed he was one of the few ones working in this wing — he let out a melodramatic whine, sounding too much like a spoiled child. The figure startled at the sound, turning around as if he wasn't supposed to be caught around this place, eyes landing on the tiny, distressed human boy.

Louis sniffled, handing him the stacked up junkfood which he accepted absently while staring at him with a look on his face the boy couldn't figure out. “Do you have any spare toothbrush, sir?”

The guy shook himself out of his strange reverie then nodded before he opened the upper right cabinet to pick one of the unused toothbrushes and handed it to the boy. Louis didn't say anything and grabbed it from his hands making a beeline to the sink and quickly working to brush his teeth, hoping the pain would go away after.

Once he was done, he paused and felt around his mouth, heaving a dry sob when he could still feel a slight pulsing of pain in his gums.

“Uh,” the guy cleared his throat. “I have something that might help ease that,” he gestured to his cheek. “toothache, right?” Louis nodded pitifully. “you have to come with me though, it's in my room.”

Louis squinted at him, suspicious. “You're not a creep, though, right?” the man's eyes widened, shaking his head.

“It's something my, uh, wife made actually.” he chuckled.

 _Oh_. “That's nice.”

“Yeah,” the guy offered a hand and Louis eyes it in confusion before placing his own on top of it. For a split second, he felt like his entire being was hurled up then dropped so abruptly in a completely different room, staggering on his feet. A pair of strong hands steadied him, evoking tingles on his skin. He wasn't sure if that was part of the after effects of teleportation.

Still feeling slightly disoriented, he turned to give proper scolding the man who was already in search for something in his drawers. “Geez, warn a guy before you _hurl_ him, will you? It's not very romantic.” and why did he say that? What's wrong with him? This was a married man he was talking to. Sometimes Louis definitely needed to reign his raging homosexuality in. He mentally gave his mouth a zip. “Oop. Sorry I said that. Didn't mean to be weird with you.”

Then he was handed a small bottle filled with unknown glimmering fuschia liquid.

“It's alright, I don't mind.” he gave Louis a lopsided, achingly familiar dimpled grin and it was then Louis noticed he had green, very green eyes that glinted under the low lights of the room. He was suddenly aware of how he had been standing with a painfully attractive man in a dark room. He willed the butterflies that erupted in his stomach away.

“Thank you for this... strange liquid, I guess. What is this?”

“Medicine.”

“Doesn't look very appetizing. Don't you have like, I dunno, any aspirin or something?”

“Medicine was never made to look appetizing, and yes I do have some but I can assure you that works better and faster.” point taken but still, maybe Louis just wanted to make sure this wasn't some strange poison that would make you hallucinate and do things against your will — like the ones he'd seen on the television.

Louis hummed. “What's your name Mister I'm-Wearing-a-Formal-Suit-At-Home?”

The man in the suit laughed, his sharp canines out and visible. “Well, I'm flattered you noticed. I'm Harry.”

“Thank you for the medicine Mister Harry, but I must take my leave and I don't wish to experience the teleportation thingy again,” he started trudging towards the doors, before completely closing it behind him, he poked his head in. “and oh! Silly me, I'm Louis!”

“Yes, I've heard,” Louis flushed at that. Everyone in the palace probably knew. “nice to meet you, Louis.”

As he was walking down the extremely lengthy hallways he thought of Harry, of course, he wondered who the much older man was and what role he played in this world — then he caught a glimpse of something that made him freeze and stare at the large portrait by the stairs, gasping to himself in cognizance when he saw the gold plated label on the frame.

“ _Oh_.”

Louis has had a lot of realizations today and he couldn't wait for more.

— • —

Louis tossed and squeaked under his comforter.

Each time he closed his eyes he'd see those intense green ones staring right back at him, making his toes tingle and face burn in exhilaration. How had he not figure that out earlier? But then again, the kitchen wasn't the place he'd expected to find a Greek god just fiercely scouring through the fridge — what more, is that he'd offered Louis help and even brought him up to his room. The teleportation, amongst many other things is what should've tipped him off.

Looking back, his mannerisms and gestures should've made it obvious too. He had so much grace in every move he made, the overwhelming air of predominance he had around him — Louis was too into the haze of painful, swelling gums to even notice that.

He whined into his pillow.

He heard door creak open. “Louis?” he gasped and pulled the covers off of him abruptly when Claudios' voice sounded from outside the door, rolling out of the bed in a dramatic way and unceremoniously dragged a stunned demi-god inside, shutting the door close before clumsily pinning him against the wall.

“Has your dad ever remarried after the divorce?” he voiced out the last doubt he had in mind rapidly so he wouldn't have to wait for the mortification to sink in.

“It's only been four years, so, no.” Claudios was proper confounded but he thought he'd entertain the boy's antics.

“That's a long time to find someone else.”

“Not when you're a workaholic and immortal — besides, I don't think he's interested in getting into wedlock again.” he picked Louis up as effortlessly as lifting a mother cat lifting its child then set him down a foot away from his bed. Louis pouted, groaning to himself after belly-flopping on top of the sheets.

“What's up?” It was weird for Claudios to be interested enough to ask about his well-being, usually it was Theos who had always listened to Louis' woes but since the younger demi-god wasn't present at the moment, maybe Claudios took it upon himself to play the role of an accommodating host. And maybe he just wanted to know more about the boy who apparently arrived way earlier than his father had initially planned.

“I met him...” Louis gasped dramatically, smothering his own squeals with a pillow.

“Met who?” he asked, although he had a clue of who Louis was talking about.

Louis glared at him and tossed the pillow to his direction which he caught without a problem and tossed it back to Louis who caught it with his face. “Do you really want me to say his name?”

“Uh, yeah? I might need context.”

“Your dad, Claudie,” Louis deadpanned then curled up to himself. “I met your dear father.”

“Oh,” he nodded. That was strange, his dad barely got out of his office and if he did, it was to his bedroom — or the kitchen, which he made sure nobody ever sees him. “... so, what did he do?”

“Nothing,” Louis grumbled, his hands curling around the sheets. “we went to his room and he gave me toothache medicine.”

Claudios couldn't hold in the laughter that bubbled out of him. “Sorry, that sounded weird in my head.”

“Shut _uppp_...” Louis rolled around his bed, whining.

“Why are you grumbling and groaning if nothing really happened?”

“Because,” he paused. “I didn't realize it was him at first because he was in the kitchen — then I saw the painting in the hallway, and...” he bit on his nails tentatively. 

“...and?”

“And he's very charming...” Louis made a weird sound and slammed his burning face on the pillow.

Claudios pressed a palm to his temple. “Oh, Christ, this conversation is getting so weird,” he laughed uncomfortably when Louis wailed at his comment. “listen, Louis. My dad isn't exactly the most faithful man you'll ever meet — I mean, why do you think him and Persephone finally got a divorce? Why do you think Theos and I are here, looking nothing like each other? He's a _playboy_ , Louis.”

The boy went silent for a while and then his face emerged from its hiding, glaring at the demi-god in front of him. “I didn't say I was gonna _marry_ him, Claude. I just said he was charming, I'm sure that's a popular opinion. Let me live!”

“I'm just warning you.”

“Well, now you've made me sad. Get out of my room.” he whined.

Claudios raised a brow at that. “I'm the Prince here, excuse you.”

“Then I'm your Queen now, so get out and don't tell anyone what I just told you.” he burrowed himself further into the sheets, squirmy and embarrassed.

“It's almost time for dinner, you know,” there was no response. “Theos just came back and he's brought something for you.”

Louis shot up from his bed so fast that it was who Claudios got whiplash for him as he watched him stagger and run for the door.

—

For someone who had literally been thrown from one realm to another, Louis was surely coping well. Too well, infact, it was already a week later in that he was taking a casual stroll in Underworld's main town with their Prince buying him everything he wanted, not that there was a lot, but everything seemed pretty expensive. Considering it was his reward for succeeding in the little challenge the prince had left him with, he was very much okay with it. 

He's had a lot of fun basking in the festive atmosphere of the town, the various colorful stands of little trinkets and food that made his olfactory nerves tickle and his stomach grumble. He looked around for Theos when he was out of his sight and found him inside a store for witches and browsing through the shelf of books and ingredients. Louis was about to run to him when a lady stepped in his way.

“Oh my, very young and fresh! _C'est magnifique_! I've read all about them but I have never seen a real, live pixie with my own eyes before and I've lived for ages!”

A middle-aged woman had eyed him down from his toes to the tendrils of his hair, her dark colored eyes full of mirth. She dragged him towards the glass stand and reached for a tiny wooden case with intricate carving on it, running her hand over them and muttering a short prayer before opening it and handed Louis the silver butterfly necklace from inside. “This is just perfect, considering your lack of wings. A real pity, you must've been raised in a different realm — but worry not! You have still the ethereal beauty of a winged one, drop-dead gorgeous.” she giggled.

Louis was taken aback, he almost got whiplash from how fast she was talking. “Oh, uhm, I'm not a supernatural creature in any way — I'm just human.” he said, careful not to offend her. He felt flattered that she thought he was attractive enough to think he was a pixie and he didn't want to disappoint her.

“Are you?” her tone changed, and her eyes steeled that it actually scared Louis enough to take a step back from her.

“Y-yes, ma'am.”

“Are you certain of it?”

“Yes, of course!” Well, not so much now.

“Where did you grow up?”

“E-earth... a-around England?”

“Where are your parents? Who are they?”

“O-on earth? Leandro and Anastasia Tomlinson— they're divorced...”

“Did they allow you to go out as a child? Did you have many friends? Did you go to school just fine? Did you have these weird days every five months when you would curl up in feverish pain?”

Louis nodded at that question, very vividly remembering the pain and agony he'd felt during those times. His mom had always given him something to sooth it everytime, despite her coldness towards him.

“Do you feel like your parents neglected to tell you something big?” she halted, and suddenly Louis apprehended she was in a close proximity right in front of him, staring at him intensely with now glowing grey eyes.

He choked on a sob, shaking his head. “No. No. No and Yes. _Yes!_ ” all of a sudden, he found his hands clutched tightly into hers.

“Come back when you have questions.” and then she was gone when Louis blinked, nowhere to be found. He opened his clenched hand and found the necklace in his palms.

“Louis? Are you okay? You look pale.” Theos appeared from behind him with a book and a canister of pickled hair...? In his arms.

Louis sniffled and nodded, rubbing his nose red with the sleeves of his turtleneck sweater. “Yeah. I'm okay, just hungry.”

Louis decided not to tell Theos about what happened until he's read more about supernatural creatures, pixies in specific. That strange lady had just given him his second round of existential crisis.

—

The second time Louis saw Harry again wasn't in the greatest terms. Albeit, it wasn't his fault he was on the way to the library to busy himself and read a little and he just happened to pass by the pantry on the way. And poor, oblivious, Louis wondered why there were strange noises in that room. He'd been scared at first, then his curiosity got the best of him as the noises got louder as he gradually got near the room.

He just wished he wasn't so curious.

When he carefully, he pushed the door to the pantry open and making sure it doesn't creak noisily, he peeked inside and — there were many things he wished he hadn't done and this was on the top of that list.

Hastily, he closed the door behind him and walked away stiffly then once he was in a good distance away from the pantry he started running for the library and hid under the study table with his knees against his chest, feeling like his face was about to spontaneously combust from how heated it got.

He slammed his eyes shut, forcing the image of the god doing that sort of thing with somebody out — but it was seemingly forever embedded in the back of his mind.

— • —

“Go away.”

Louis has been having a terrible day since yesterday.

He felt homesick, he missed his mother and he was worried about his dog. How was his mother coping, he wondered, was she worried sick? Has Clifford manage to get home safely after what happened? How long has he been gone from home, were people looking for him at all?

“I've baked a cake for you, it's strawberry.” he burrowed himself into his sheets when his ears picked up the sound of Amelia's concerned voice.

“ _No_.”

He also felt horrible for being so terrible to her. She had been nothing but good to him ever since she found him spaced out under the library's study, helped him find the books he liked and eased his mind about the thing he saw. He felt self-conscious and embarrassed when she laughed at him, but then reassured him that it was alright and it was something a living soul has to witness once in a while once they live in a place with a bunch of other people in it, especially in a palace with an attractive King. Something about that didn't sit right with Louis.

“Louis, you need to eat, sweetheart, you've barely eaten since last night.” 

“I'm not hungry,” he whimpered and sniffled. “I want my dog.”

“I wish I can fetch you your dog, Louis, but there's only so much a faded white witch can do.” she gave him a downcast smile.

“Please go. I'll be down in a few.” She nodded at that got out of the room. Louis sighed to himself once he heard the door shut close.

—

Louis figured chocolates made him a tad bit happier despite the toothache they give him afterwards as he munched away on them and sat on the garden fountain, his mind far away still feeling a bit blue.

“So you're the one who's been eating my chocolates, huh?”

He flinched, turning to see Harry gazing down at him with an amused smile on his lips. Louis frowned at him and went back to eating his sweets. The awkwardness he felt around the god remained and hasn't subsided yet, making it hard for him to even think of holding a proper conversation with him that he had to sit uncomfortably still when Harry made a show of squatting down very closely in front of him.

“I gave you a potion to ease your toothache and you repay me by eating all my chocolates and giving me the cold shoulder? I feel wounded.”

Louis rolled his eyes and swatted Harry's hand away when he reached and made an attempt to pick one of the sweets and huffed at him with a brooding pout.

“Why are you here? I'm still mad at you.”

“My, what have I done to warrant this cold treatment?” Harry matched his pout, unable to stop himself bringing his hand up to brush Louis' hair away from his face, causing an unsolicited and copious amounts of butterflies — or moths, as he liked to refer to them — erupting in his stomach when a light hint of pink dusted the boy's cheeks.

“You lied. You told me you had a wife.” Louis licked at the excess amount of chocolates left on his fingers. Harry's eyes followed his movements closely. 

“And?” Harry's tongue darted out to dampen his drying lips. “what made you think I don't actually have one?”

Louis' eyes flit to the ground, a ghost of a shy smile on his face. _You are supposed to be mad and brooding, Louis, what are you_ _doing_ _!_ the rational side of his mind chided. “I know who you are now, mister.”

Harry gulped dryly. “Who am I?”

Louis stared at him, “A divorced man.” there was a serious expression on his face until he burst out in loud giggles after Harry playfully pressed his fingers to his sides for making a joke about his relationship status.

“So, a little birdy told me you've been giving my sons a difficult time.”

“Whatever do you mean? I've been nothing but good.” cheekily, he stuffed a whole piece of chocolate in his mouth and looked away, breaking out into another fit of squirmy giggles when Harry poked on his waist once again.

“Stop being a little troublemaker and start behaving properly.”

Louis acted is if he was giving it a thought. “What if you sent me back home, then?”

Harry grinned. “No.”

“No? What does that mean?” Louis gasped. “Are you trapping me here? Was that your plan all along?”

Harry found out he was completely incapable of keeping his hands to himself when it came to Louis once he let his hands travel down the boy's hips and under his hoodie, thumbing on the waist band of his shorts.

“Yes, I've always wanted to kidnap pretty little boys, keep them in my palace and let them eat everything in the fridge when they get bratty and moody.”

Louis glowered at Harry and swatted him in the shoulder. “I'm not little. I'm a twenty year old big man — I _am_ pretty though.”

“That's what little boys say,” Harry chuckled when he received another swat in the shoulder. ”and you are indeed pretty but you're still nineteen until the next three months, sweetheart — even then, you're still very little.” this fact, Harry was painfully aware, after all, Louis wasn't supposed to be here before he turned twenty. It was a series of unfortunately fortunate events that happened a tad bit earlier than expected.

“How do you know that?” Louis' dewy blue eyes were wide and bewildered.

“I know a lot about you, little dove.”

Louis' eyes lowered, his lashes fluttering. “Do you know about Clifford, then?”

Harry released a low laugh. “Yes, I know about your pet dog.”

“Nice,” Louis looked delighted, and then batted his lashes at Harry. “can you get him for me, then? I miss my baby so much.”

 _Minx_.

“I'll try for you, yeah.”

“Your Majesty,” he had managed to snag one piece of chocolate from Louis when the boy's attention was divided for a split second due to the voice. Harry raised a brow at the flustered and fidgety servant, signifying her to continue. “Mr. Caldwell has been waiting for you in your office for a while now, and he wishes to speak to you.”

He stood and tucked his hands in his pocket. “You can go now.” she bowed and scurried away.

“You're leaving?” he looked back to see Louis pouting.

_Damn you, Caldwell._

“I'm afraid so. See you later, sweetheart.”

He was out of sight once Louis blinked.

—

“Whatever happened to keeping your distance from him?” Damian teased as soon as he materialized in his office.

“I _tried_ , Damian,” he groaned. “it's extremely difficult, especially now that he's just within my reach.”

“Yeah, and you just can't wait to sink your nasty little claws in him.” he ducked just in time when Harry threw a picture frame at him for his badgering.

“Dont make it sound so creepy.”

“Whatever,” he lit up a cigarette. “just don't hurt him by leading him on or something.”

“What?”

“Did you really think I didn't see you snog that one servant before you went to see Louis?”

“It's not like he'd care, anyway— _ow!_ ” he cried out when a picture frame hit his head when Damian threw it back at him. He didn't see that coming. ”what the fuck?”

“You're an asshole _and_ an idiot. He's going to care because he's bound to you by _soul_ , and it's going to hurt him bad.”

Harry groaned. Why did Damian feel the need to remind him of that one little fact as if he didn't think about it every day of his pathetic, immortal life.

“Don't cheat on him.” Damian realized Harry was such a child at times and he needed a wake-up call.

Harry ran his palm down his face, exhasperated. “Can we not talk about this? What did you come here for, anyway.”

 _But we definitely should_ , Damian thought, unhappy about Harry ignoring the issue here, which was hurting Louis. Did he not understand at all, or was he simply going to ignore like usual? 

“My men found this after scouring the area around where Louis lived,” he relented, tossing Harry a plastic bag he'd summoned. “It's a cloak by the river and it had a knife with it but it's still being examined. We did the same to the cloak and only found animal fur, its saliva and nothing else that would help us identify who the perpetrator was. I think it might've been those arseholes imitating us again and trying to tarnish our reputation worse than it already is.” he spat, the personal grudge towards people giving the soul reapers a bad name over the eons, rearing its ugly head.

Moreover, the ugly ass cloak — reapers haven't worn cloaks since the 1500s and even then, it was definitely much classier and unlike this cheap, Halloween store one. Nowadays, reapers were often seen clad in much more professional and work appropriate uniform, depending on the time period, of course. These people were just copycats, and they were doing a dogshite job of it.

“Don't you think it's a sham?” Harry voiced after giving it a thought.

“Huh?”

“It's like they're trying to mislead us, isn't it? Purposely leaving the cloak by the river to make you Death, the Founder of Soul Reapers Club, think it was just the dollar store version of yous.”

Damian groaned. “Ah, yes, shit you have a point. I didn't think that far ahead. I got so mad after seeing that sopping cheap ass cloak.”

“Hey, it's okay, no pressure,” Harry chuckled. “by the way, was a dog there? The one with the same fur found in the cloak?”

“No,” Damian trailed, confused. “there were signs of it, but it wasn't there when we arrived.”

Harry leaned back on his recliner. “Thanks, Dame. You can go home now, I can tell the Soul Peepers Association aren't the only ones setting you on edge. Go back to your beau.”

Damian rolled his eyes but there was a ghost of amusement in his features. “Thanks, man. Call me when you learn something— and don't hurt Louis.”

And he was gone.

Harry sighed. “Time to do this shit.”

— • —

“Ew, why do you have a crush on my dad?”

“Why are you making me feel bad about it?”

Louis discovered Claudios was the best partner when it came to banter. But he was actually getting pissed, especially now that Claudios hit a sore spot by asking about the strange fixation he has on the king.

“I'm not!” the prince defended. “I just thought my warning got through you.”

Louis' mind flit back to that one night he opened the door to the pantry and he slammed his eyes shut, pressing his fingers to his temple wishing he could go back in time and undo it — he should've just ignored whatever he heard and walked past. He buried his face in the book he'd been holding.

“Something happened.” Claudios accused.

“Not at all.” Louis evaded.

“I'm not daft, Louis. Tell me. Now.” Claudios pressed.

“I saw Harry exchange spit — and somethinf else with a servant in the _pantry_. It's _disgusting_.” Louis relented.

He spat the words rapidly unable to stop the hint of bitterness that seeped in them hoping Claudios didn't hear it or catch on but unfortunately, the prince was as smart as he looked.

“See!” Claudios slammed his hands on the table, making Louis flinch. “that's what I was talking about. Don't say I didn't warn you, Louis.”

“Shut _up_ ,” Louis glared at him from behind his book, hating the way the prince had a point.

Louis would never tell anybody about how he had recognized the servant from the garden a few days ago was the same one he had seen Harry with in the pantry. He had caught her gaping at Harry, starry-eyed when the god was talking to _him_ and was addressing _him_ — it just made him even more pissy that day without any valuable reason he could come up with other than the fact that he didn't have Harry's attention to himself alone. He'd found out he was very petty.

“Where's Theos, anyway? He's better. He doesn't shame me for liking older men.”

“Well, he doesn't know.”

“I asked something, answer it.”

“You're a brat,” Claudios glowered at him. “he's probably out fornicating with his new lover.”

Louis gasped, appalled. “No way! Theos is a baby!”

“Theos is four hundred years old. You're the baby here.” Claudios rolled his eyes when Louis covered his ears.

“Yada, yada, you're all senile old men — except for Theos, he's a baby.”

Claudios groaned, pressing a hand to his temple. How can one human person contain this much energy? He was over hundreds of years older than Louis but he felt drained just watching the boy waste his own energy. “Is this the time when I bribe you with sweets and then you clam it up like a doll and tell me why you're reading a book about pixies?”

“Lemme think,” Louis hummed with brows furrowed and lips pressed together. “Maybe if you gave me a strawberry and chocolate cake with a little tip on how to get your dear father's attention on top.” he gave Claudios a sickeningly sweet grin.

—

“Why is she here?”

Louis couldn't hold his tongue back the moment he saw the servant casually working in the kitchen. The room went silent after the words left his mouth and the girl's eyes were wide once she realized the boy was talking about her, looking around for help.

“What do you mean by _why_ , she's gonna make you the cake you wanted.” Claudios interjected.

“No,” Louis turned his nose up at her. “I want Amelia. Where is she?”

“Right here, babe,” he beamed when he heard Amelia's voice from the doorway and rushed to her, giving her a gentle side-hug making her chuckle. “alright, what does the queen of the castle want? A strawberry cake? A chocolate one? Or perhaps, a mixed one?” she wiggled her brows.

Louis simpered, nuzzling into her side. “You know me so well.”

“Is this because I called you the queen of the castle or that you wanted a mixed and strawberry and chocolate cake?”

“Both.”

She laughed the boy's antics and then stared at the confused servant.

“Oh hello there, Natalie, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be working at the other wing?”

“W-well, yes but I was told I needed to cook something for the guest so I rushed over here and...” her eyes flitted to Louis for a second then back to the floor.

 _Natalie, Natalie, Natalie — that's an ugly name I'm gonna remember it forever, ugh!_ Louis' thoughts whirled like a furious tornado. 

“I don't like her,” he whined. “Amy, please, I want you to bake for me instead.”

Natalie, the poor girl was so confused and looked like she was about to cry. Louis simply stared at her with a raised brow, daring her to let those tears fall.

“Now, Louis, why are you being mean to Natty? She's a sweet girl!” Amelia pulled him off from her side and gave him a stern glare. “apologize to the poor girl or you're not getting your strawberry cake.”

Louis huffed, rolling his eyes before he ran out of the kitchen, slamming the door shut in the process. 

—

“Oh my _Hades_ , Louis what is wrong with you?” Louis reprimanded himself, looking at his reflection on the pool waiting for it respond by pulling him in and telling him he was getting too comfortable in this place and he should stop acting superior — and he took it upon himself to jump in when it didn't, making sure to stay on the shallow side where he could stand on his feet just fine — because staying in the Underworld didn't magically give him the ability to swim. It was an uncomfortable soak, especially with what he was wearing but it cleared his mind enough.

That calm was shattered the moment he shrieked in surprise when he saw Harry by the pool with Natalie a few feet behind once he emerged from the water.

“Was _don't dive without proper attire_ one of the few things your parents neglected to tell you about, Louis?” his tone and his face wasn't amused, judging by the way he used Louis' actual name and not the usual petnames he'd called him with.

Louis didn't respond and just glared at him (or the servant behind him with a towel in hand) face half hidden from the edge of the pool.

“Get out of the water,” Harry was eerily calm. “don't make me drag you up here.”

Louis was hesitant, albeit he managed to get out of the water when he looked away from Harry. He stood still in front of Harry, his knees shaking both from the cold and from the weight he could feel under Harry's heavy stare, he was severely intimidated. This was the first time he had ever felt scared of the god.

“Get over here.”

He stepped closer.

“Closer.”

Then he stepped right in front of him without looking up and then there was a warm, thick towel wrapped around his body and he was pulled closer to Harry's chest, strong arms around his shoulders. He released a relieved sigh, encircling his arms around Harry's torso and nuzzling into his chest and looking over his shoulder to give Natalie a smirk — the poor jittery servant flushed and looked away from them.

“You're such a brat, my hand is itching to land on your ass right now.” Harry's warm breath the vibrations of his deep voice fanned his ear and made his entire system shudder.

“ _No..._ ” Louis whined in protestation.

“Will you be a doll for me and apologize to Natalie, then?” Louis felt a flash of irritation rush up his spine when the name left Harry's mouth.

“No.” he refused, yelping in surprise when Harry gave a harsh pinch on his hip.

“Why are you being a brat?”

“Because I want to be.”

He flinched when Harry grabbed his chin abruptly and made him look up at him, staring at the boy dead in the eyes. “While you live in my property, you listen to me when I tell you to respect my workers. Do you understand?”

Louis nodded, lip wobbling and eyes dampening when Harry scrutinized his every move with a scarily calm but undeniably mad expression. He felt so scared — and sad.

“Apologize.”

With an ornery face, he turned to look at Natalie and resisted the the urge to roll his eyes at her skittish mannerisms. He _really_ didn't feel the need to apologise to _her_. “I'm sorry.”

_Who snitched, anyway?_

“Mean it.”

“I'm sorry, I mean it.” he grumbled, rolling his eyes.

“I-it's okay!” the girl squeaked out, shaking her head. “I don't mind.”

Louis faced Harry. “She doesn't care.” _and I'm gonna keep being mean to her, because I want to._ It went unsaid and unheard but apparently, Harry was able to read his mind because he yelped, once again, when he felt a smack land on his bum.

He pushed against Harry and escaped his hold. “What the fuck!” — Harry was going to reprimand him once again for his language but he had already sprinted his way out there and to his room, furious and humiliated.

— • —

Louis hasn't talked to Harry for a week. He simply refused to.

Although, that didn't mean he never sneaked around every day to look for the man just to see his face. Yes, he had indeed dropped so low as to becoming a cheap stalker but he did what he had to do. It hadn't always ended up well, his lurking adventures — the past few days, he had finally understood what Claudios meant when he said his father was the resident playboy.

First, it was just the servant, good old Natalie — ah, Natalia Jung, died in a fire at twenty years of age in their house in Carolina, given the second chance in life to serve for Hades — she whom Louis had been so petty about and turned his nose up to and bossed around everytime he'd seen her. She annoyed the boy to no ends with her fidgeting and stuttering and Louis was relentless about it.

For the second time, Louis had the displeasure of once again catching the man with one of his conquests who had turned out to be his, surprise surprise, secretary whom Louis later on found out was named Lilith — _absolutely mundane name, choose something better next time_ , he'd thought. Lilith Rosseau, from the face of Beverly Hills, to the valedictorian graduate of Harvard, regretfully passing away after drunk driving, perhaps she wasn't smart enough — and like Natalie, given the second chance to work as Harry's secretary.

Louis had caught them in the library when he wanted to read more about pixies — it was totally unintentional and he wasn't purposely trying to hunt the man down. Almost immediately, he'd harbored an overwhelming amount of hate for the blonde secretary and had already planned on how make her life a living hell.

It was after he had read about pixies being jealous and territorial creatures. He stayed up late that night, finally coming to the realization that it was jealousy he felt. Smoldering hot, petty and unreasonable jealousy.

The pesky emotion was still simmered in his stomach up to his chest. It was as warm as the sun he was bathing in from a lounging chair by the pool, reading a book with only a two piece, frilly and slightly risqué bathing suit that he bought the day before. Wondering to himself when his own personal strange, impending Underworld erotic romance will finally come to develop.

 _What a bright, sunny day_ , Louis sighed contentedly as he took a bite out of a chocolate dipped strawberry. He may or may not have done this whole to taunt Harry, who was probably watching him like a hawk from one of the windows but, who knew?

He was just there, minding his own business when he felt something furry and warm brush against his legs, causing him to screech high and fall down the chair on his bum.

“ _Meow_.”

Louis stared blankly at the tiny, white feline that practically pushed him away and took over his chair. _Seriously?_

“Here you are, little primadonna.” Harry's voice sounded from behind him, the sound of his Dr. Martens crisp against the tiled floor as he walked over to pick the kitten up.

“What?”

He had planned on giving the god the cold shoulder for another few days, but there he went.

“I was referring to this little one here,” Harry cradled the kitten in his arms and poked at its nose. “her name is primadonna. Isn't she pretty?”

Louis scrunched his nose, feeling a ridiculous wave of territorial jealousy in seeing the man coddle the white feline. “Her name is ugly.”

“She's named after you, so she's yours now.”

Louis fish-mouthed at that, slightly affronted. “Yes, she's indeed very pretty.”

Harry full on belly laughed at that, setting primadonna down and letting her run off indoors. He patted on the space beside him, signifying Louis to come closer which the boy concurred to right away, flopping down beside Harry and situated his bare legs over the man's clothed ones.

“Why are you making fun of me, sir?” Louis inquisited after making himself comfortable.

“I'm not making fun of you, honeydew,” Harry grinned at the rhyme he made and ran his hand over the skin of Louis' svelte legs. “but I can't help you've been acting like a proper ornery princess these past few days, why is that?”

“I already told you: because I can.” Louis rolled his eyes. He barely had any time to think when Harry effortlessly changed their position by placing Louis' legs on either sides of his waist and leaning his arms besides where the boy's head was.

“I can't help but think there's something more to it, my pretty little primadonna queen,” Harry pressed his nose to the junction of Louis' neck, and the boy resisted the urge to submit instantly. “you look irresistible in this.” he gasped when Harry's left hand travelled down and pulled the knot on the side his swimwear and caused it to fall undone.

 _Louis you are an absolute whore, slut, tramp, a harlot, stop it,_ he chided himself.

“And what're you gonna do about it, Mister Hades-sir? Spank me?”

“I might, yeah.” Harry hummed. “You're so pretty, my fairy boy.”

“Do you tell that to your other conquests, too?”

Harry pulled away, looking flabbergasted. “What?”

“Oh, please,” Louis scoffed. “What did you tell Nancy to lure her in the pantry to fuck her? That she looked delectable in her maid's uniform?”

“No, Louis, what?”

“And what about your sexy secretary Melissa, huh? Did you tell her you find intelligence sexy, especially when they're in a tight miniskirt, bent over books?” he smacked Harry's shoulder.

Harry stared at Louis' furious face, wholly confused as to how he'd just conjured that up. Harry never used pick up lines — at that thought, a uncontrollable bout of laughter escaped him causing the boy to get even more frustrated and attempted to push at his shoulders to get away.

“I don't need to use pick up lines, baby. They come to me first.”

“You are an asshole,” Louis whined. “so how was it? Were they good and —”

Louis was abruptly cut off when Harry pressed his lips onto his, quickly working his way into Louis' tongue when the boy opened up ever-so-slightly. It was harsh, hot and fleeting and it left Louis whimpering while his legs locked around Harry's waist on instinct. Harry dominated the kiss while Louis simply laid there, satisfied albeit not knowing what to do.

Harry pulled away with a string of saliva connecting them, smirking at the way Louis eyes followed his lips in a daze. “You're jealous.”

“So what if I am?” Louis didn't want to admit it, but he also didn't have the energy to deny it, either. He simply looked away, face burning up and it wasn't the sun above them.

“You're jealous and you shouldn't be, you're by far the fairest boy I have ever laid my eyes on.”

“But they've seen you. All of you.” Louis grumbled.

“And I won't do it anymore if you're upset about it. Just tell me.” he picked a lock of hair away from the boy's eyes.

“And sad. I'm sad about it, see?” the boy widened his blue eyes and stopped himself from closing them to try and get himself to tear up before a gust of wind passed them and he had to blink rapidly. Harry chuckled, squeezing Louis' sides.

“Silly boy,” Harry muttered, picking one of the chocolate coated strawberries from the bowl and fed it to the boy, which Louis instantly bit down — and then he decided to be a little tease by wrapping his pink lips around it, sucking and licking on the fruit with his hooded blue eyes trained intensely on Harry. _Foxy little_ _temptress_ , Harry thought and leaned closer, whispering. “for what it's worth, I think _you'd_ look delectable in a maid's uniform — or a tight miniskirt and bent over my desk.”

— • —

Anastasia has never dreaded a knock on the door so much before in all of her life.

About three people have already knocked — the first one was their new neighbor offering her a box of cookies. The second one was Louis' friend, Hadley, the only friend she had allowed to stick around her child. The last one was a delivery she had ordered from a week ago and had only arrived. Every single one of them made the restlessness in her bones even worse, the dread in her system growing more and more on every knock that echoed in the hallway.

She looked a downright mess, her eyes had dark circles underneath them and her unwashed, greasy hair stuck to the sides of her hollowed face. This wouldn't have happened if only she hadn't given up her immortality, if it weren't for her husband leaving her, if it weren't for Louis —

Eerily still, she stood there in the middle of the hall in front of the door, staring at it as of daring whoever was out there to just break and enter.

She didn't have any single clue as to whom she had been fearing about but she knew there was someone.

After a few unanswered knocks, the lock to the door made a clicking sound indicating it had been unlocked. Instinctively, she took a step back.

It creaked and flung wide open, revealing a wide-eyed woman whose expression Anastasia mirrored perfectly, staring at her in shocked silence. Quickly, the woman trudged over to her and gripped her shoulders.

“Where is Louis?”

Anastasia jolted at Diana's voice if she had just been jumpstarted. Her mouth quivered, unable to get the words she'd wanted out and simply stared at her sister in front of her. Diana shook her head when she got no response and begun to open every door in the house starting with the bathroom, jumping back when Clifford rushed out of the room and started barking loudly once the door was accessible. Has he been locked in there this whole time?

Diana followed the direction of the mutt's growls and found him back in the living room sniffing around the furniture and barking at Anastasia who was already sat still on the couch fidgety, and staring at nothing.

“Anastasia, I'm asking you again. Where is Louis?” she pressed her fingers unto the bridge of her nose and looked down at Clifford when he barked at her once he heard Louis' name. She crouched in front of him and reached out to ruffle his fur. “hello, boy, it's been awhile. Do you have any idea of where Louis might be?” she felt ridiculous asking a dog for her nephew's whereabouts but from the looks of it, a dog seemed to be smarter than her sister at this moment. Clifford continued rustling around uncomfortably.

“He's safe, Dee,” Anastasia finally spoke, running a hand through her hair. “he's going to be just fine.”

Diana's pulse quickened. “What do you mean — where is your son, Ana? I can tell he's not in this house, and he's nowhere near the town!”

“Wherever he is right now, he's safe. Louis' alright,” she stood up and gave her sister a smile that was intended to be warm and comforting but only unnerved Diana as her eyes were blank and she looked mentally detached from the world. “they already took him away from my hands, they will take care of him for me — for us.” she brought up a hand and laid it on her sister's arms. Diana shrugged her off.

“Who is _they_ , Anastasia? What stupid thing have you done now?” she grew agitated by every second that passed just thinking about the possibilities about where Louis could've been, the worst case scenarios. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to stop thinking. “tell me what did you do — tell me everything!”

Louis wasn't supposed to be taken away yet. While she was well aware of the impending fate the boy was bound to fall into due to the kind of logical thinking Anastasia seemed to have — or lack, thereof — that didn't mean she didn't get a terrible feeling in her gut that told her to give the family a visit.

“They told me they're gonna give me back the immortality I lost, in exchange for my son!” she cried, looking absolutely manic with the smile on her face. “so I agreed. Louis is an adult, he will handle himself just right — and besides, they told me he was beautiful and they wanted him. That was a compliment, he's my child, I gave birth to him! So I agreed, because I know they're going to take care of him well, treat him like _royalty_ because they found him _beautiful!_ ”

It was as if Diana's hand moved on their own when in a blink of an eye, Anastasia's head was turned slightly to the left, a horrified expression on her features with a reddened mark of a hand on her cheek.

“How can you be so selfishly stupid?” Dian whimpered out, so unbelievably confused and hurt.

“I just wanted to finally be happy!” Anastasia screamed, her voice raising volume so suddenly that it had Diana taking a step back and alerted Clifford and had him barking wildly at the woman. Irritated, Anastasia threw the nearest thing she could get her hands on at the mutt, causing him to release a pained whine when it hit him. “shut up you damned cur! You should've stayed locked up in there.”

Diana gaped at Anastasia in horror, about to give her a piece of her mind when they felt a sharp chill of terror run down their spine, followed by the clicking of buckled shoes against the wood flooring. Clifford's ears picked up, sniffing around their newly added, self-invited intruder who squatted down to give the dog a warm petting.

“What is this I heard about immortality in exchange for a son? Care to tell me a story, Miss Anastasia?”

—

“So, dad,” Claudios addressed him, casually slicing into his steak. “will you finally tell us why Louis is here?”

Every once in a while, they liked to have these nice and quaint little family dinners to themselves. Harry might not have looked or acted like it but he loved his children and wanted to connect with them even just a little, unlike his siblings. He liked to imagine that maybe one day, Louis would be apart of these gatherings too — that was him mindless dreaming.

Theos halted in his chewing while Harry leaned back against his seat, dabbing his lips.

“Dad knows the reason why Louis' here?” Theos whispered, confused.

“Yes, and he's been keeping it to us for a very long time now.”

“Woah,” Theos brows scrunched together. “So what _is_ the reason, dad?”

Harry waved a hand, shaking his head no. “Not telling you yet. It's not the time and something big's happening.”

“Oh, okay.” Theos wasn't a very complicated soul, Harry was thankful for that. Claudios, on the other hand, wasn't having it.

“Are you serious? You said you'd tell me soon!” he slammed the end of his knife against the table.

“Claudios,” Harry warned. “manners.”

Claudios huffed and nodded stiffly. “Right. Sorry, father.”

“Louis isn't entirely human, though, right?” Theos decided to put his two cents in. “will you tell us what he is then?”

Ah, his ever insightful ginger child. Harry used to find it odd how his children had gotten their mother's traits and barely his left, but then they grew up and he realized they had inherited his unwavering charm and unmitigated brilliance.

Harry contemplated telling about Louis' true nature.

“Wait, what?” Claudios hissed. “how did you even...”

“He's a pure-blooded pixie.” Harry relented. Theos muttered a small and proud _I knew it_ , under his breathe and giving his brother the tongue, retracting it before Harry could see.

The table went silent for a while before Claudios spoke up. “They're rare creatures.”

“Extremely rare and endangered,” Harry corrected. “which why you boys should keep an eye on him whenever you take him to town.”

“Right, because you already keep your hand on him,” Claudios eyed his father when he didn't answer. “pixies are jealous creatures.”

Harry hummed and checked his phone.

“Extremely jealous, and destructive.” he mocked Harry's earlier words.

Harry sighed. “What are you getting at, Claude?” he knew. He totally knew what the child meant. After all he had almost experienced the destructive level of jealousy.

“What I'm saying is that if you want to keep the boy — or possibly marry him, I don't know,” Claudios scoffed. “then you should stop fucking your servants and giving him false hope. Start paying attention to him — or he will keep terrorizing your servants.”

“Hold up right there,” Theos tutted. “what did you mean by that, brother mine?"

“I already stopped _fucking my servants,_ ” Harry made air quotations. “because he told me he didn't like it.”

Claudios had a knowing, triumphant smile on his face while Theos still had a confused expression on his.

“Dad... you're doing the _do_ with _Louis_?”

“I'm not. But he _is_ mine,” Harry stared pointedly at his children. “so make sure to keep your — or anyone else's grubby paws off of him.”

“I thought he had a thing for Claude, for sure. Turns out it was just them gossiping amongst each other,” Theos faked a betrayed expression on his face before he scrunched his nose. “he's also younger than both of us combined.”

“Do you have a problem with that, boy?”

“No, obviously. When did the Greeks even care about who they screwed?”

“Exactly.”

“I'm gonna be a real sap here, but ifyou want to win his heart the more natural way,” Claude began. “the boy's homesick so you should probably get him his dog back, the cat was a cute gesture but he'd need something more familiar, don't you think?”

And oh, Harry had been planning to do exactly just that.

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 2 is coming soon, I swear. I'm writing it as we speak. Maybe I'll post it next week, or the week after that <3


End file.
